Plotting (Ch65)

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So, technically this is a bit of a filler chapter.  As in, it moves us from the chapter involving Gongaga's (and subsequently that entire world's) fall into darkness and into the actual visit to Hollow Bastion.  But that's not for a few more chapters yet.

A couple of things changed from the original outline to this chapter.  Originally, this was going to be the first time Aerith asked Zack about accompanying her to Radiant Garden/Hollow Bastion.  However, I realized that her doing that is a little bit out of character because it's somewhat unsensitive.  However, I mostly fixed that by having them talk about it sooner so that when the topic gets brought up, it's somewhat Zack's decision to go.  Because he does what to, just to see.  Plus, the guy loves adventure and all.

But then (and I always knew this was going to happen) I was going to stick a holiday chapter in right before they could go.  And guess what's getting posted in a couple of days?!?

by Gatchacaz 

I'm really excited.

Also, this makes me happy:

This person does a lot of videogame-related cross-stitch patterns.  If I had more time, I'd probably stitch some myself because they're so freaking awesome.  Anyway though.

In other news, I'm finally done with finals! Which, theoretically means I'd be rearing right back up to post fifty bajillion things and keep going at full-tilt.  However, I've still got some stuff going on, so posting will still be a bit slow.  Plus, then Christmas :P

However, if anyone's interested, I wrote a thing with the three main characters based off of Axel, Roxas, and Xion.  I love getting approved for creative works in my major.  The premise is clearly different (well, mostly.)  But anyway, if anyone's interested in reading a lovely sci-fi short story with three recognizable personalities, just lemme know.

In other, other news, I'm going to be writing a holiday-special for my main KH-fic.  I have absolutely no idea the plot of it yet, but it will probably involve everyone I can throw into a room together, well, mostly, considering I operate with a cast of like, 20 people.  Regardless, it'll probably be mostly AU, though it might be able to fit in between Betwixt and Between and Book 3, I suppose the holidays could have happened in there.  *shrug* Anyway, that'll get posted as a one-shot sometime next week.  And that's in addition to the already-written holiday chapter for the Prequel.  Holiday cheers all around!

I think that's all I have to say for now.  I still have some work today, but once I'm done with that, I'm going to go hang out with my friends and we'll be celebrating the end of the semester!

Review Responses:
No, KKBeckett, you won't know what's going on with Cloud for a couple chapters.  Because spoilers :P

Teaser Quotes:

"Rinoa..."
"I can do this!"

"Rinoa, I'm the hospital here."

"It's because you're a Sorceress isn't it?"

"Best to learn from the best!"

"I can't have you get hurt! You, or any of my friends."

Have a Christmas Video: (mostly 'cause this little girl is adorable--I love ASL)

Darkness Falls (64)

Yay for a lack of original titles.

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by gyokuto

Look at these adorable boys!

And I'm so awful to them :(

Granted, I knew I was going to drop their homeworld into darkness.  Because I'm an evil author like that.  Plus, it makes it easier for me to do things like that because I know that the minute Sora comes around (though, it'll be a few years) He'll restore all the Worlds.  (Remember that I don't follow 3D where there are sleeping worlds.)

So the outline looked like this: Zack (20) and Cloud (18) had been in Zack's hometown, just visiting.  Zack had been bragging about his achievements.  Heartless in large amounts begin appearing.  The world is being swallowed by darkness.  Cloud recognizes this and tells Zack what is about to happen.  Zack wants to save everyone he can but Cloud tells him that there isn't time.  Cloud is becoming frantic at the influx of darkness.  Zack hastily takes the two of them to Traverse Town--to safety.

Though, I did add in that Zack wanted to save his parents, because Zack would want to save his parents.  But then I made him choose between them or Cloud.  And Cloud passed out.  And Zack is just like "Grarg! you're making my life difficult!"

Also, this was supposed to be the event that actually got Cloud and Zack to Traverse Town the first time.  The materia sub-plot got added in later.  Zack and Cloud would have been avoiding Traverse Town before that point because Cloud was being touchy.  (Though, how Zack would have managed to get Cloud to Gongaga before Traverse Town is beyond me, good thing I didn't go with that plotline.)  Anyway, clearly things changed.

Review Responses:
KKBeckett: No, Cloud's darkness is not happy.  Just you wait a few chapters.  I'll have another one posted in a couple of days.  And shhh! Everyone's mostly fine, you know that! :P

Teaser Quotes:

"I'm so sorry."

"The cannon's overheating!"
"@#%)(&@#%^(()!@"

"Stop talking! You'll only hurt yourself."

"Curaga, Curaga. Curaga! Curaga!"

"Stay awake. Stay with me.  I need you awake."

Muahahaha!

I'd give you a Christmas Video... but I love this TSFH song too much...

Developments (62)

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by fortisisimo on dA

See, first there's the addition of Demyx to the Organization.  It's been a while since any new recruits.  The last person anyone found was Cloud, and he was totally still a somebody.  Still is.  Always will be.  But really, the last two recruits added were Saix and Axel.  It's been a while.  Not that it matters, Xemnas has a crapton of plans in place.  *rolls eyes*

Then there's the development in Rinoa's training.  Which is going well, I suppose.  She just doesn't like fighting everything that's in her memories.

Then there's Leon trying to make that second entrance to the Secret Waterway--an entrance which Merlin puts there for him.  And we've now entered the wonderful relationship that is Merlin and Cid not ever getting along.  It's so amusing.

And then there's Tifa, who's getting closer to Cloud, but she's still a while behind him.  However, I enjoyed making references to all of the people.  Though, it's so weird, that Tifa knows none of them.  I mean, she will eventually, but she has no clue who any of them are as of yet.  And Yuffie's just so incredibly rude.


Anyway, review responses.

KKBeckett: Is Xigbar up to something? Oh, I probably suppose so.  I think he's always up to something.  :P  Why was Master Yen Sid making Rinoa fight out of her memories? Well, I suppose it's because he sees the value of learning from past experiences, and he has the ability to literally make something like that happen.  Rinoa, however, does not believe that she will gain anything by fighting Squall, and Master Yen Sid decides he's not going to argue her on that one, because that's not really his place.  Rinoa, honestly, should learn to fight alongside him.  Which, she already knows, so whatever.  Yes, Tifa did see Aerith, but she really doesn't recognize her, which, as I mentioned before, is so picking weird!

*sigh* Another short blog post.  I suppose they'll get longer in a bit though :P

Teaser Quotes:

"What's causing all of this?"
"If I knew, I would tell you."

"Stand back, I'm going to call a summon."
"If you haven't noticed, I can't move."
"I'm not going to aim it at you!"

"Do you have a Blizzard materia?"
"No! I can only carry four.  And between my Cura, the Steal, and Bahamut, I've only got room for one more.  You're lucky I didn't have the Fire equipped!"

"Summoning again!"
"But I want to!"
"Fine!"

"What are those green ones?"
"Focus on those! They can Cure the others."
"On it!"

More Christmas Videos!

Embrace Your Dreams (ch59)

And Cry because that game is so sad.

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This chapter was completely not planned at all.  But I wanted to sort of get a first-hand experience of the nightmares... because I'm weird like that? I dunno, there's a part of me that's always been the tiniest bit attached to dream/nightmare sequences and what they can show about a person.  I just don't do it frequently because dreams can often be considered a cop-out in writing.

by Wen-JR

But anyway, this was fun, weaving together different scenes that didn't get to happen in Zack's actual life, but could happen in a dream.  Most of them were scenes that I enjoyed or found important in Crisis Core and thus I felt like incorporating most (all) of them.

I guess that's really all I have to say.  The chapter basically speaks for itself.

Review Responses:
KKBeckett: Are the nightmares omens? I'll let you decide (insert evil smiley face here.)
The good news is, while you don't know where I'm taking this, *I* know where I'm taking this.  We're actually a little more than halfway through I would say.  Halfway, you say? But we're 60 chapters in! *shrug* I tend to write longer stories once I'm situated in the world.  Plus, I'm spanning more than 10 years with this.  *dances excitedly* Oh, just you guys wait!

Teaser Quotes:

"People lived here."
"I lived here."

"This was my home."

"The darkness, I can feel it.  I don't think it's coming for us.  I think it's just here."

"I cleaned out the firdge.  And I threw away your science experiments."

"Whatever this is, I will smack sense into you!"

Have some more Zack feels while you're at it! (This post is full of them!)

A Growing Family (ch58)

And not because anyone's getting pregnant! They just keep adopting people! *MINE*

Chapter

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Well, this whole sequence ended up being a lot longer than originally planned.  And by sequence I definitely mean the "family feels fest in Traverse Town" sequence.  Also known as Cloud's first visit slash the visit where Zack and Rinoa are both there at the same time.

I just kept adding things to it, though! And so long as I figured the things I was adding were productive, I just kept adding chapters.  Though, this is actually the last of the chapters of this sequence/arc/thingy.  Not quite like the "end of a volume" sort of thing, like with what happened by the end of the FFVIII arc, but certainly the end of a longer sequence-arc than just a chapter.  I'll stop talking now because I can feel myself make less and less sense as I continue.

by twin-cosplay on dA

Anyway, have a picture of Yuffie because this girl is an awesome cosplayer of her.

Also, I just love how everyone ended up getting divided into chapters.  Aerith and Rinoa ended up together, where they kept trying to "out-polite" each other as KKBeckett put it.  Aerith does this frequently, she did it at the end of AtP when Tifa and Cloud showed up and it all ended with Yuffie giving up her bed for a bit.  (They've since added another room up there.)

Meanwhile, Zack and Leon go inspecting because the two of them get along pretty great.  And Cloud's just helping Cid because he can, but he's also betting Yuffie because he wants munny for a new sword.  Yup.  I just.  Yup.

But then Zack and Cloud have to leave because Cloud has to leave because he doesn't want to hurt anyone.  Zack has absolutely no idea why Cloud thinks this, but he wants to do what's best for Cloud.  Aerith, as usual, is super supportive of the whole thing, but it's sad because they have to say goodbye and *sniffle* my feels.  

Review Responses:
archsage: I don't think it's so much as Yuffie has a crush on Cloud, as she admires him for whatever reason.  She just decided one day (the day he first showed up) that she was going to like him.  She respects him because he's not Leon, he's not cranky-pants (Cid).  He's not even Zack, who she has to like because he's an extension of Aerith.  And he's certainly not Rinoa, who really just doesn't know how to deal with Yuffie.  (And that's probably because Rinoa had her own mischievous days and she's still that way and she really doesn't spend too much time for Yuffie, and her case was already sunk because of Leon.)  Cloud actually sort of cares for Yuffie in a way.

Anyway, that was a rant.  I appear to have come off as unclear.  I haven't actually watched any of RWBY, but it's certainly on my to-do list.  I keep seeing it show up on my tumblr dash and I know I just need to start watching it.  But, no, right? Kairi! And Rinoa! Ugh! His portrayal or Rinoa is wonderful!

And I kind of feel bad about Kiros and Ward, but I have such a huge cast already that I just... *sigh* I really can't!

KKBeckett: I think I ship Zerith harder than I ship Namiku.  And that's saying something.

Teaser Quotes:

"Why can't I go?"
"Because it's too dangerous."
"But they're going!"
"I don't think they should go either.  But I can't stop them.  They're all adults."

"Well, it looks like it's settled then.  You can't go anywhere until you're at least fourteen."

"Don't you even think about using Fire to light the stove.  It lights on its own."

"Well, let's head outside.  I hate leaving from indoors..."

"There's a difference between knowing and seeing."

And... well... I have feels about this video because it's just so darn beautiful.

Not technically the mafia... (ch57)

by griffinkhan

Sorry, I was still amused by KKBeckett making the FF Gang out to be the mafia. Because that's totally what they look like, right? (I kid, I kid.)

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I'm pretty sure this chapter was basically intended to be fluff with some minor plot points put in.  As in, Yuffie telling/showing Cloud the secret hideout was the only plot point I had to hit.

However, I also had to include Zack doing squats because it was bothering me that I hadn't been able to include that before.  (No, seriously, it was bothering me a crapton.)  Anyway...

The kissing bit (or them talking about kissing) was totally Yuffie just popping into my head and saying that.  So, naturally, I had to work in the dialogue.  Mostly because it's just all of the #accurate.

Originally, Yuffie was just going to tell Cloud about the hideout, and then someone like Aerith or Leon was going to hear about it, but then it just worked so pleasantly into her showing him it because she trusts him.  And then Leon's watching because he can't stand the silence of the hotel (well, he can't really stand silence, but I'll have feels about that later.)  And then he's all like... what should I do? And he wanders back to the hotel and Rinoa's there waiting for him because he's been writing to her off and on asking her to come visit and she basically just decided one day that she was going to, despite the fact that she probably should be training and stuff.

But no, again, I get to have feelings about Leon... because... well... Idk... that bit about not liking silence because of it reminding him about the end of time and I just... don't even... know where that came from.  And then him seeing Rinoa and having a very typical reaction to seeing the person that you WANT to spend all your time with.... yeah.  And then throwing them in a room with Zerith.  So much win.

Review Responses:

KKBeckett: yes, EVERYONE ships Zerith.  Really, everyone.  Cloud's certainly one of them, because he'd seen how Zack talks about Aerith and then he saw them together and just.  Yup.  Also, yes, that was a reference to people getting new weapons.  Blatantly.  Because I'm cool like that.

Teaser Quotes: (Because I enjoy them!)

"Wha' in'a name'uh all tha's Holy in'a Worlds're yeh doin'?"

"I'll have to get the cot out of the closet."
"I can sleep on the floor, really."
"No, you're sleeping in my bed! I'm sleeping on the cot."
"You don't have to."
"Yeah, right.  It's cool.  I've slept on the ground before."
"I've slept on the ground before."

"Anything you want to talk about?"
"Nibelheim."
"Yeah?"
"We need to go."
"Okay.  Wanna go now?"
"No."
"Okay.  We'll go tomorrow."

"This World is falling into darkness."
"No, there's no... We have to go back! We have to save..."
"There isn't time! If we don't leave now, we'll get sucked in, too."

"Can I have some eggs now?"
"Of course! I'll get you some right now."
"I made them myself."
"Oh, really?"

And then, well, I'm just impressed by these cellists:

Some more family feels! (ch56)

I've given you family feels before, haven't I? If not, I'm surprised.  Rar's been handing them out like candy.

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Also, I hit 100 Reviews! (I'm at 102 right now.)  Woot!

So this chapter is a conglomeration of several things.  First of all, we've got Marlene's birth, which we're in Barret's POV for.  That was fun.

by TaoPaint

Then we've got Tifa's search for Cloud.  And Tifa can use light corridors, which I'm surprised none of you said anything about.  But maybe it's not all that cool.  Which is fine, it doesn't have to be, I just expected someone to say something.  Ah well.  But regardless, Tifa can use light corridors because she's A) a freaking strong-willed person and B) her heart's got enough light in it to manage.  So, yeah.  Fun times!

And then we have the family feels.

See, I knew that Zack and Cloud would end up visiting Traverse Town anyway.  Cloud was going to be super uneasy about the whole deal, because he doesn't like to be around people, but Zack insists that everything will be fine because the people they're around can totally handle weird things.  Originally, this would have been where Cloud told Zack that he had been in the Realm of Darkness (because I'd intended for him to keep that a secret, but he ended up sharing that on their first meeting, so okay then.)  Regardless, even if that conversation had happened around here instead of several chapters ago, Zack still would have insisted that Cloud had nothing to worry about and they'd all help him out.

I thought Cloud was going to throw up a huge panic regarding going and being around people, and I was like, perhaps I'll have to knock him unconscious? Is Zack going to bring someone else to Aerith for healing? But, as it turns out, Cloud is a big boy and sucks up his own worries for a bit so that Zack can visit his girlfriend.  Classic case of characters not behaving in a way in which the author planned.  Because Zack introduces Cloud to the gang and Cloud's welcomed beautifully.

Then we've got the section with Merlin, which ended up tying into the family feels.  I knew Merlin was going to move into Traverse Town right about now, so I inserted him into the chapter.  What ended up happening, was he got caught up in an argument regarding family.  Because Blake is a real person who may or may not have helped Yuffie out with the Heartless occasionally, so she threw out the name as a cover for spending time in her secret hideout.  When she tries to make her cover more real, Blake does the typical thing and says that they weren't really friends so she should back off, but then he also takes things a step too far and insults their family.  (Originally, it was just going to be him insulting Aerith, but it turned into insulting the whole family because it flowed better and I ended up liking where that went.)  But poor Merlin, who gets completely sucked into the whole thing...

But then there's some Cloud and Yuffie bonding, which is super nice! Because... well... idk, people bonding with Yuffie is nice.  She's still kinda young.  And she still lies slightly pathologically (minus to Aerith, if we're not counting the secret tunnel thing.)  But she grows out of that.  I swear.  She's still ornery, but she gets better.

Quick Review Responses:

SpiritDreamWarriors: Of course I shall continue! I'm a little slow at the moment, but I hope to make up for lost time over the holiday.

archsage: Yes! Family is about so much more.  Anyway, I'm not really too into RWBY, but I have seen Dead Fantasy!

KKBeckett: I appreciate your mafia reference.  Also, yes, Tifa's basically just following Cloud around at every world he's been in since coming back from the Realm of Darkness.  Because he's with Zack, he's been to a lot of Worlds.

Anyway, I should be a person and go to bed... so... have some teaser quotes real quick!

"I want to go somewhere, just for a bit.  To see the sights! I'm not weak, I know how to take care of myself. However, you're the one with the star shard."

"I'll stay here and..."
"Take care of Yuffie?"
"No, make sure she doesn't follow you."

"I do want to know why you're doing this."
"Practice.  Training.  Something like that."
"You're bored, aren't you?"

"Why aren't they're any Keyblade Wielders around?"
"They've all but disappeared.  Something's happened and the Worlds have gone dark."

"Who are you writing to?"
"Zack."
"Are you writing mushy stuff?"
"Maybe just a little."
"Ew."

And then... well... good music!

Leon's Return (Prequel Ch48)

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So, I wasn't going to do a blog post for this originally.  I was just going to lump it in with like, the next couple of chapter's worth because I wasn't sure what to say.  But now, because of how other things are lining up, I will be posting a blog.  Heheh.  You'll see.

I think I had a lot of things going through my head at the time when I was trying to figure out how exactly Leon's return would go.  I knew it would be something along the lines of he just showed up to surprise Aerith.  But then, somehow, it turned into he showed up via star shard, and then Aerith just assumed he was Zack and came looking, which turned out pretty darn well, if I say so myself.

Though, I will say, I kept switching between their POVs to the point where I actually got confused as to whose POV I was in.  (Clearly I fixed it, but still.  *rolls eyes at the two of them*)

by oblivious-life on dA

Anyway, this is also the part in the story in general where I just had SO FREAKING MUCH going on.  As in, I was dealing both with the Angeal part as well as Ultimecia at the same time.  And so I'm also wrapping up those arcs at the same time.  Not that Zack's healing arc is ENTIRELY wrapped up, because I don't think it ever will be, but all the same.  The FFVIII arc is wrapped up, however.  Sure, we'll still see those characters, but the arc is done.  Wow, I did NOT know what I was getting into when I decided I was doing that.  But I'm glad I went through with it.

Also, it's super amusing.  I was rereading through AtP and BB to write down bits and pieces so I could remember, for multiple reasons.  (like, oh, I don't know, a Book 3) and I just so happened to have written down the chapter about Zack reappearing in HB and Aerith whacking him on the head with her staff.)  The next day, I post this chapter, where Aerith casually mentions that sometimes Zack aggravates her to the point where she wants to whack him with her staff.  Sure, I had that chapter in mind when I wrote that bit of dialogue, but I did NOT plan me writing notes and posting at the same time.  Anyway.

So yeah.  Cookie, on the off chance that you're reading this, why? I'm 45 chapters ahead of where you're reading.  I'll PM you with responses!

KKBeckett, yes, Leon has emotions! It was kind of amusing as I was writing because I was basically just, Leon, did you emotion?!?

Archsage, yes, people are meeting each other and it's super exciting.  What's weird to me is all the people who HAVEN'T met, like Zack and Cloud, for example.  Or Tifa and Leon.  Or Cloud and Leon.  Yeah.  Um, yeah.  I'll leave it at that for now.

Have some more teaser quotes, but they have nothing to do with what I'm planning on posting next.  Muahahaha!

"Why would you go to Midgar?"

"Then some guy found me and I think he tried to get me to join a cult."

"I feel like I'm some sort of walking time-bomb."

"Don't talk with your mouth full.  There's more potatoes in the kitchen."

"Why here? What could I possibly need to do that's here?"

And, that's that for now.  But have a beatboxing cellist!

P.S. I'm writing book 3!!

Clever Title is Clever (Prequel ch47)

As in, I can't think of anything at the moment.

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I knew where this was going right from the beginning really, (well, beginning meaning the fleshed-out  FFVIII arc.)  I knew that Rinoa was going to discuss what she should do about the fact that she has the power of multiple Sorceresses and how they would set a goal to maybe transfer some of her Sorceress power back to Edea so that Rinoa was not at risk of being consumed/corrupted by that power.  Quistis, too, would volunteer to take some of that power in order to alleviate Rinoa's strain.  Assuming they knew how to do that, which they don't at the moment.

Meanwhile, Squall was going to set up to go back home.  Zell was to stay in Balamb, Laguna was to go to Esthar.  Ellone would follow him, but after she helped out Rinoa.

by hinokami-san

I mean, I made some minor changes.  In my outline, it was Squall's idea to go back to Traverse Town because he was homesick, but by the time I'd written it, Squall was mostly just conflicted and Rinoa had to convince him that going home was a good idea.  Naturally, they'll keep in touch and visit each other.

The whole thing with Aerith's letters was added later. I mean, I knew Aerith was writing him, and I figured that Aerith's letters would probably get a little more worried as time went on.  I mean, the last time we saw Aerith in-story was the chapter where she can't really focus on anything because she's worried both about Zack and about Leon and then she goes and fights Heartless and Zack drops in.  It's been at least three weeks since that point.  So yeah.

The artwork off to the side isn't really related to anything, except that I found it adorable. :-)

To respond to KKBeckett's review, yes, it is sort of like we're coming to a close.  The FFVIII arc is almost done.  But fear not, I have plenty more plot to come.  I'd say what, but that'd be spoilers, so ya'll just have to keep reading.

I'll give you some teaser quotes because I like you all, though!

"You're wearing a lot of pink."

"I feel the same way about Zack most of the time."
"Most of the time?"
"Sometimes he's obnoxious and I want to smack him over the head with my staff."

"Do you need glasses? Of course it's me!"

"You ever traveled by star shard before?"
"Huh?"
"I'll take that as a no.  Piece of advice: brace yourself."

"I don't think you'll believe me."
"Try me."

Anywho, I like this video.  Also, I just like Sara Bareilles.

Finding the Secret Waterway (Prequel ch46)

Yes, I know the chapter title on fanfic is obnoxious.  I was like, missing Avatar.

Link to the Tumbl

So I was watching my youngest sister play KH1, (mind you, this was several months ago), but I was reminded of the secret waterway and how sometimes Leon used it to train.  It got me thinking about how they even found out about it in the first place.

cosplay by yu-kisaragi

But of course, the Great Ninja Yuffie would find it.

Young!Yuffie is a bit hard to write for.  I think I've mentioned this before.  For some reason, her head's really hard to get into, especially because there's this whole alter-ego of the Great Ninja Yuffie that is also in her head.  I think this gets better as she grows older, like the different personalities resolve themselves within her.  Regardless, this is the first chapter where I've done an entire chapter with JUST a kid.  (I wasn't even doing full chapters with just Kairi!)  I think it went very well.  It helped that the Great Ninja Yuffie had a mission.

But yeah, as my tumbl says, writing the chapter without being at the leisure of just turning on my PS2 and wandering around Traverse Town made it a little bit hard.  I didn't have access to KH1 at that particular moment, so I was reduced to walkthroughs and the wiki.  And, as great as the KHwiki is, it was failing me for this one, because it failed to mention the entrance to the secret waterway from the alley.  It only mentioned the one by Merlin's house.  So I got SO confused.  It's cool, I figured it out, obviously.

Also, rar and I got into this intense discussion about the locations of boxes in Traverse Town.  Thankfully, boxes are not like buildings and can move around over the years.  Then we also had an intense discussion to figure how Yuffie gets through the bars.  I think we determined there was a hatch for maintenance, but Yuffie's small enough at 10 to just fit through the bars.  Later, she'll probably loosen a bar to move aside as she gets through.  Later, when other people know about it, I think they'd either use the aforementioned hatch or be able to slide through with one of the bars missing (ala the Little Mermaid 2, probably.)  Then, Sora'll show up in, like, 6 years and just break the whole thing with a Trinity because... well... Sora.

Overall, a pretty fun chapter to write.

Yes, KKBeckett, her relationship to school is very amusing.  She really doesn't want to be doing school, but she knows if she doesn't, Aerith will get disappointed, and Yuffie really doesn't want to disappoint Aerith.  So she just keeps going, waiting for the day when Aerith tells her she can be done with school. (Something that is certainly a few years off.)

Here's some up-and-coming quotes:

"If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't be saying it.  Will I miss you? Absolutely.  Do I know that you and I may need to do separate things for a while? ... Absolutely."

"What, no hug?"

"I think my adventuring days are over, I'm getting too old for it."

"I know your family's not technically a real family, but it sounds like a really nice family."

"Cid's asleep! Goodness, how late is it?"

Have a completely unrelated, but slightly nifty video:

And that's all, folks!

Xiggy gets away with stuff (Prequel ch44)

Chapter

Tumbl

I thought up this idea over the summer when I wasn't quite sure how I was getting Cloud out of the Realm of Darkness.  I was going to go with having the Sephiroth part of his heart (because that exists) decide that he'd get Cloud out of the darkness for some reason, but I couldn't think of a good reason why Sephiroth would bother with such a thing.  I wasn't really sure what else would work.

cosplay by thru-apeture-eyes
photo by AfterlifeUSEC

And then this idea with Xigbar happened.  Xigbar basically just took over.  And he gets Cloud out of the Realm of Darkness because he thinks he's a Nobody because he's not showing too many emotions but he's totally still a somebody (yeah, that's kind of a jab at Cloud I suppose), and yeah... The banter between Xigbar and Xemnas is just beautiful, mostly because Xigbar's the only one in the whole Organization who can get away with saying such a thing.  And he takes the whole situation well, basically just saying "well, okay, whatever" because he's Xigbar, and that's Old Man Xehanort in a different body.  All the same, Xigbar does what Xemnas says and just leaves Cloud on some world.  And no, I'm not telling you which one it is.  rar was able to guess, you could probably figure it out.  (Yes, I'm mean.)

Also, this cosplay is fairly renowned on tumblr for being awesome, just saying.

Anyway, one last thought ('cause it's late and I want to keep this short).  The person they're waiting for is Larxene.  Which, I've mentioned before.  But I just love the idea of them keeping tabs on her because they KNOW she'll make a powerful Nobody and it's only a matter of time.  Heheh.  But, we're a long way away from that if the last people to be added were Axel and Saix, just sayin'.

Anyway, not saying what's following Cloud either.  Muahahaha!

This is the other half of the video I posted the other day.  It's originally sung by Gumi, but she's not designed for English, so this is a pretty nice cover:

Time Slipping Away (prequel ch43)

Excuse me while I set my feels aside from what I was writing to deal with the chapter that I posted yesterday.  The only thing similar is the darkness, and that's an overarching theme.  Heheh.

Chapter

No tumbl for this one guys.  It just didn't happen.  Everything moved so fast and I kept switching POVs to get the full story surrounding it.  Plus, I repeated a few things to get all the viewpoints and... yeah...

The only thing that would have gotten tumbld would have been my feels on Rinoa's hysteric breakdown.

But let me back up for a second.

Anyone notice how where they are keeps changing in relationship to time? (End of Time, Time Compression, Sliver in the End of Time, Present Time) This motif will continue in the next chapter of this arc. Yup yup.  I thought I was being clever.

cosplay by leonhart cosplay

Also, Rinoa basically stabs you in a knife with her feels.  But that's not before Leon wrings your feels out because he's started to forget Rinoa.  Which is totally something that happens in the ending video in the game.  I just abbreviated it.  Honestly, reading it over again, I think it makes it scarier, because it seems so sudden.  He's forgotten someone very important to him.  And he is stuck on a sliver of time, and he's got nowhere to go.

And then Rinoa (understandably) starts raving.  It doesn't matter what Quistis or Edea tells her, she's not going to accept the fact that Leon could be gone.  And when Quistis reminds her that the journey they took was bound to claim at least someone, Rinoa goes on about how she was the one it was supposed to have claimed, not anybody else, especially not Squall.  KKBeckett puts it accurately when she says "oh my feels."  Because "ugh feels!"

It kind of just blows my mind when I think about how someone could come to terms with their own death before they can come to terms with others.  I mean, I am aware that it happens.  But, all the same... yeah... special things, really.

As it is, I shan't say anything about where this is going.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  Those of you who have read All the Pieces are lucky.  Not because you know how it ends, but because you know that it ends.  (If that makes sense muahahaha!).

So, other than that, I don't have anything to say.  Most everything I have to say comes with the next chapter of this arc.  So... I shall leave you with a video and bid you a nice day!

I love the animation done on this one by mike-inel.

She wants Time Kompression (ch39)

Or something like that :P

So, HUGE update! 2.5 was released! Anyone super excited? I probably watched the trailer four times this morning on tumblr alone (as in, every single time it showed up on my dash) and then I think I watched it again on FB.  Anyway...  *dances excitedly*

Anyway, link to chapter 39

Link to the tumbl

by VanEvil

So this chapter actually got written after I'd loaded up FFVIII and played that last battle again.  Because, why not.  T'was fun.  That, and I watched two different playthroughs to get more ideas than just what I do.  Because, seriously, I'm not writing Irvine or Selphie, and only some of their stuff gets transferred over to what I was doing with Edea and Laguna.  And my solution with Rinoa is to stick her in her limit break and then just keep her healed.  Then she just chain-casts.  There's no strategy.  And Rinoa in my fic would have strategy.  So... yeah...

Ultimecia's a pretty fun boss battle, honestly.  I found it incredibly easy the first time I played it (though, I'd had so much else go wrong with my game that I guess it just didn't quite match up to the suspense I'd gotten waiting for a functional third disk.)  All the same, it's a pretty decent battle, though the storyline of 8 is all over the place, don't get me wrong.  I think my stuff makes more sense lol.

Sorry for those of you reading the first posting of that chapter, I had missing words and stuff.  Clearly I need to proofread better.  I think it's all fixed now.  If not, lemme know, I'll probably fix them

Again, I kinda feel bad for all the crap I put Rinoa through.  This is the second time she's possessed.  And Ultimecia's a stronger consciousness.  And... yeah... I just... but... *shrug*.  Rinoa is the one who just gets all the Sorceress powers in my story.  Heheh...

And, yes, I did reference Shad.  Don't even ask me why.  I found it amusing and thus kept it.

Huh... is that really all I have to say about this chapter? I think it is.  I mean, it's just a boss battle.  The more interesting stuff will come in later chapters.  O...kay... then.

Well, then in that case... anyone wondering what happens next will have to wait a couple of chapters.  (I say two because the next chapter involves someone who is not these characters.  You'll see!

As usual, have a video:

Oh! before I do that! I found other things to say... I think I've already attached Rolling Girl to Rinoa.  Well, here, have another version of Rolling Girl (a really excellent cover if I do say so myself).  A lot of my feels relate to rar's feels on this one (not the first time I've said this) but... yeah... enjoy!

ALL MY FEELS (ch34)

I can't come up with a better chapter title.  But this is feelsy.  Like, I cried through this whole sequence in the game, and then I knew Zack would have nightmares, and Aerith would be healing him and...

I should slow down.

Link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/34/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the tumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch34/chrono

So, slowing down a little, I do a lot of POV switches in this chapter, unlike how I usually do it, mostly because these aren't separate scenes, they're all one scene that require different POVs.  I think originally I wanted it all in Aerith's, but I realized the impracticality of that, so I ended up having a bit with Cid and a bit with Zack as well.

cosplay by Narga-Lifestream

So first there's the repeat, with Aerith finding Zack and realizing that he's injured.  She's also piecing together possible situations of what happened, which I alluded to in the last blog, but here it is, actually happening.  And she just feels so awful and wants to ask all the questions, but she doesn't because Zack's crying and that's never a good thing.  Plus, she should heal Zack because he's not in great shape.  Everything else, at that point, can wait.

And she's mentally calculating just how much healing she's going to have to do and where Zack should sleep and well, shoot, she might as well just put him in her own bed and then worry about everything else later.  And Yuffie should just go sleep in Leon's bed because Yuffie should NOT be watching a healing.  And Aerith also wants to give Zack privacy.

And that poor hotel owner I think has learned not to ask questions by now.

Also, I'm listening to the Crisis Core soundtrack as I write this... because, apparently, I need more feels.

Moving on, though, we've got Cid's portion of the chapter, which does have some humor in it, grim humor, but humor all the same.  Cid is the one to draw the connection between Zack and Aerith to Laguna and Raine, because Raine was the healer before Aerith's mom, who was the healer before Aerith in Cid's eyes.  Cid's also the one landed with keeping Yuffie out of the room.  And while he doesn't want to argue with Yuffie, he knows Aerith can't right then, so he's going to have to.  And though it doesn't happen in-scene, he does somehow manage to get Yuffie out of the room.

And then we're back to Aerith with the healing.  She uses nearly her entire stock.  She'll be making a shopping trip in the morning after that one.  This is also where Zack tells her exactly what happened.  And while she's totally cool with him waiting and telling her when he's ready, Zack needs to tell her what happened now or his brain is going to explode with the information.  So he tells her and she feels awful on so many accounts.  And there's absolutely nothing she can do but be there for Zack.

This is a HUGE development for their characters.  Yes, Zerith is probably one of my most happy-go-lucky couples in the grand scheme of things.  However, Zack's loss of Angeal makes the two of them realize just who they are to each other.  Because, this is also where Zack's nightmares begin and Aerith is bound and determined to keep them away.

(Which of course, made me go all A:LGHSDG:KLHDSG over it because Riku tells the same thing to Sora in canon.  Ugh.)

And then there's Angeal's letter to Zack, which he delivered to Aerith some number of chapters ago (I wanna say it was about five).  Aerith never read the note herself, but she knew that this is what Angeal meant by she'd know when to give it to Zack.  And that's what she did.  And all Angeal wants is for Zack to live on, and be good to Aerith and let Aerith protect him as much as he wants to protect her.  Because Angeal is the biggest Zerith shipper ever, I swear.

Aerith's the biggest Squinoa shipper, it's cool.  (And I don't think they're official yet, heheh....)

So let's do some review responses:
archsage: Thank you very much! I'm glad I have Angeal's character down.  I know you were hoping that he would live... but I wanted to stay true to the story in this instance.  And a part of who Zack is is living through the death of Angeal.

KKBeckett:
No, it's not bad at all that you're laughing.  I'd say I put in the humor there on purpose, but I really didn't.  That's really just what Cid does.  He's bitter but slightly humorous.  But yes, that was muscle and I agree with your cringing.  But... *hands you cookie* hopefully it'll help with the feels.

And, to finish off today's feels-fest:

(I'd recommend going to YouTube and clicking on the higher quality video, honestly.)

Stay tuned for more feels tomorrow! (Heheh.)

Fight Against Angeal (ch33)

AKA FEELSY CHAPTER NUMBER TWO IN A ROW

Link to chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/33/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to tumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch33/chrono

I wrote this chapter while simultaneously watching the scenes of Zack's fight(s) with Angeal repeatedly.  I'd already passed that point in the game about a week prior and basically just called on those feels, plus the feels of me WATCHING THE PLAYTHROUGH OVER AND OVER AGAIN.  Rar probably thought I was crazy.  When I wasn't watching the videos, I was blaring the Crisis Core soundtrack.  It was one of the scenes that literally requires I use headphones lest I drive everyone else bonkers with the constant sound-switching.

Clearly, this chapter is feels inducing.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.  I find the scene in Crisis Core to be so full of feels (granted, a lot of Crisis Core is more like Crisis Cries, as rar puts it).  All the same, this was definitely one of the more emotional scenes.  We've broken through Zack's core and it just makes you tear up a little.

by blazing-eyes on dA

Yes, I modified it a little bit.  I'd already sped up Angeal's degradation with the serum, which basically meant that Angeal's degrading cells tried to meld with the Heartless, which meant that Angeal lost hope, thinking he truly was a monster. The only foreseeable way out of it as far as he was concerned was death and death by Zack was more honorable.

Meanwhile, poor Zack is still convinced that Angeal is not a monster, even when Angeal's half-Heartless.  Yes, Zack does lose faith in Angeal's honor, but that becomes a moot point by the end of the battle.  The Angeal that Zack will remember will be quite an honorable man indeed, despite everything that happened.

Naturally, the battle leaves Zack more emotionally damaged than physically damaged, though Aerith will have quite the healing job to do.  But before I get too much into that, since that's next chapter, I'll just move on.  Spoilers and such.

So, KKBeckett, to respond more to your review a couple of chapters ago, Zack had everything he needed in his stock up until this battle.  He ran out of magic and had no ethers.  He had a crapton of remedies equipped (mostly because that's all I was using at the time and I based his stock sort of off of my stock, and I was using remedies because I kept getting poisoned) and thus no ethers.  Granted, he still won the battle, but is it really winning when you lose a friend in the process? We'll get to Zack's injuries more next chapter.

But yeah, Aerith at the end is mostly just like "I'll heal you now and we'll get to the talking later", because that's what Aerith does.  Heal now, questions later.  Though, I think there's a part of her who knows what happened.  Zack showing up with Angeal's sword, Angeal not around? All that stuff. Yeah, she knows Angeal's dead.  What she doesn't know is how.  And that's a good portion of the gut-wrenching feels.

And then there's the fact that Zack realizes his sword is still in Olympus and more feels!

So, yes, very feels-inducing chapter.  I'm surprised I'm not a puddle of feels at the moment.

Review Responses:
KKBeckett:  I'm... uh... sorry? About the feels? I suppose? Maybe... I can't help that rar's giving you feels, either.  Based on the fact that you've got Zerith feels, I have an idea of what chapter she just sent you.  I'm sorry, heh...

archsage: Yeah, when Phil's at a loss, there's a problem.  In my head, Phil is very much doing the thing when Meg died in the movie.  Except, unlike Hercules, who's a god and can go get her soul from the Underworld, Zack has no such ability.  Nor, do I think, would he want to go get Angeal, because Angeal wanted to go out.  Bringing Angeal back would devalue his death.  Meg's death was not supposed to happen and Hercules righted it.  Anyway! Enough of that philosophy.
Huh, Terra and Riku, though? I don't particularly imagine that happening in my story.  I want Terra to live! But it is an interesting image, I will give you that.
And no, nope.  Nothing's going to quiet down for a few chapters yet.  We're on quite the ride right now!

Um, so yeah, this video is appropriate:

Fight for Rinoa's Confidence (ch32)

AKA, the chapter I had a crapton of feels about.

Link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/32/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the tumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch32/chrono

(A lot of my feels were there.)

by ~AerisGainsley on dA

Anyway, have a slightly related picture of Rinoa and Squall, yes, they're on the Ragnarok, but this picture, okay? Where he's holding her and all... yeah...

So, yeah, I had a ton of feels in this chapter and some of them were not okay.

Rinoa was just a bucket of feels and so was Squall, but he's trying to hide them because he's Squall and that's what he does and just... ugh!

But Rinoa's having the... "I know Adel's dead but I just can't quite believe it yet and everyone must think I'm dangerous and I would have been better off frozen, do you seriously care about me enough to rescue me and oh my gosh I was possessed I just feel gross and icky and no one likes me now and I should just go get frozen because that's what's best for everyone and..."

And Squall's like... "I have to know Adel's gone but there's a part of me that doesn't care because I think I love you but if love isn't the right word than I'm not quite sure what is, but I've realized I don't want to live without you so I think you're stuck with me and oh dear, why are you crying?"

BUT HE FLIPPING SLAMS ON THE BRAKES AND THEN HE HOLDS HER AND OH MY FEELS.
Sorry, for subjecting you to that.  I have feels, I'm sorry.

Is there anything I want to say that isn't deep fried and covered in feels? Nope, not really.  My outline basically says that Squall goes and gets Rinoa and then they come back and talk about how they're going to go after Ultimecia.  The feels came later.

Though I have a completely different set of feels for the second half.  The second half is "Gosh, Headmaster Cid, why are you such a presumptuous jerk?" I like, did not mean to write him that way, and I know he must have some redeeming qualities because he IS Edea's Knight, but... like... he's so presuming.  *rolls eyes* But then Quistis and Edea make up for it because they're both willing to take on Ultimecia's powers if it makes it easier for Rinoa and Rinoa is kind of shocked because she didn't expect that from them.  Mostly because she's having self-confidence issues.  Those will get solved later.

Um, so Review Responses:
KKBeckett: Um, maybe it was a reference to Aladdin? I guess it was.  There's no itty bitty living space involved though.  But Rinoa practically has phenomenal cosmic powers, so... And basically, the rest of that is my feels in general.  Quistis is awesome and Rinoa needs a confidence boost.  Yep.

Have an oddly appropriate VOCALOID Video:

I have feels about this song, too.  They are similar to rar's feels.  Anywho, have a nice day!

Fight Against Larxene (ch31)

Because yup, that definitely happened.

Link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/31/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the livetumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch31/chrono

by ~StrawberryKestral on dA

So, somewhere along the lines, I decided I wanted to include a chapter that had pre-Organization Larxene (I guess Arlene?).  Mostly because I happen to like the canon where the Organization is just WAITING for her to turn into a Nobody because she has so much potential.  But she's doing pretty good as a Somebody.  So good, that she landed herself the second-to-last spot in one of the Olympus cups.

I thought about Xigbar being the last person in the cup, because he's keeping an eye on her, but then I figured that would be too much, so I cut Xigbar and threw in a Guard Armor, because it didn't really matter anyway, because that's the battle Angeal comes and helps with.  (Which is why Larxene wasn't last.)

So anyway, I started writing backstories and stuff for her and it was not okay.  I'm not even sure how she wormed her way into the story at all (as the livetumbl will attest to.)

All I had originally planned was Zack looking for Angeal and he winds up in Olympus Coliseum because that's where Angeal's gonna be and Phil ends up forcing Zack through a cup because that's what Phil does.  That's all I knew.  But then all the Heartless battles would get boring and monotonous, and then Larxene happened.

Fun fact, Zack saying "bitter taste" upon finding Angeal missing and his mother recently having passed away is a direct reference to Axel saying the exact same thing after the final battle in All the Pieces and Saix dying.  I'm not sure if it was intentional, but I definitely realized it after the fact and figured I'd make mention of it here.

Another fun fact, what Zack's got equipped is the exact same thing that I had equipped when I was going through Crisis Core as I was simultaneously writing this chapter/playing the game.

Also, rar went through some cups in Olympus in KH1 to help me determine just how easy certain Heartless would be for Zack.  It was pretty amusing and fun.

The Crisis Core soundtrack was super helpful for me when I was writing this chapter.  It's super handy for just about the next several chapters I write with Zack (having all of them written, I can say this with utmost confidence.)  You'll hear more about it, I'm sure.  Or you won't, 'cause I'll have forgotten.

Also, Zack was giving me feels prematurely and it was not okay.

Review Responses:
So Zack has exactly what he needs... for now.  At the moment, at least.  And yes, yes, that is Larxene.  Most definitely.  I don't know how, it just happened.

Have a very Zack-related video! (for some reason, it won't let me embed it, but Tto12 is awesome (so is ARS), so you should click on it.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbai1xKfLSg

Fights Against Various Things with Various Shapes and Sizes (28)

Long title is long.  I don't even know.

Link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/28/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the livetumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch28/chrono

So, these snippets were only loosely plotted out.  I knew that the Aerith/Zack/Angeal section was going to be short because writing a whole chapter on them researching would be boring to read after a while unless I had them run into someone and I like the idea of them going in and out with no one noticing.

Leon being restless at Balamb Garden is also a short sort of thing, considering he's just going to go gallivanting off to go rescue her in the next chapter or two and that's a whole sequence.

The Rinoa sequence got abridged because I needed to include the snippet with Cloud.  But it worked out, honestly, in my opinion.

by ~xxx-TeddyBear-xxx on dA

And then there's Sora, Riku, and Kairi, who never have long chapters, just snippets.  And that's cool.

(I am aware that picture has nothing to do with the chapter, but I love this debate.  One of these days, I will write Sora and Riku in Christmas town.)

I feel really bad for Zack, I'm shattering his world around him, and while it's hardly different than what happens to him in the game, it's still sad to watch.

Leon's just being adamant about going and rescuing Rinoa, which is good, because he needs to.  (And admit he loves her while he's at it.)

Rinoa's sequence, on the other hand, got super dark super fast.  I wasn't aware she was going to start ramming herself into walls in an attempt to beat Adel out of her.  When I wrote that I was literally like... Rinoa... what are you doing?!?!?!? Yeah.  I wasn't expecting that.

And poor Cloud.  He literally has the worst luck.  And he's just in the Realm of Darkness, walking, and it's rather saddening.

I determined that Riku's dad went missing sometime before he was eight.  I'm not sure how far before, but based on how Sora assumed Wakka was teasing him, it might have been recently.  Maybe not.  No real telling.

Review Responses:
KKBeckett: Yes, Angeal needs to stop thinking that he's a monster.  Ugh.  It's annoying.  And yeah, Leon should admit that soon.  Should being the operative word.  Rinoa's doing exactly what you think she's doing and it's not okay.  Yes, poor Cloud.  And yeah... Riku... just... don't punch people.  But... yeah...

Also, I'm obsessed with this song at the moment.  Heh.

Rinoa's Inner Fight (26)

Well, I'm not behind on homework anymore.  But I'm certainly not ahead either.  Oi.

Anyway, link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/26/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to the tumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch26/chrono/

So, once again, I've got a chapter that's split up into four sections.  The FFVIII arc takes up half of it, then I have Denzel's birth slid in as well as the ending sequence involving Lea and Isa (now Axel and Saix.)

I do feel bad for Zell, because he's kind of just standing there awkwardly while everyone else figures out their next move.  Laguna's super apologetic after what happened and he wants to make it up to Leon and Leon's just like "go away, I never liked you anyway."

So, this is where I start being super mean to Rinoa though.  Originally, Ultimecia was supposed to come and absorb Adel's powers before Rinoa could get to them.  This would then of course spurn a ton of "oh crap, we have to kill her before she kills us all now!" But as I was writing, I got to thinking that I liked the idea of Adel trying to make Rinoa a vessel again.  I thought "oh crap, that's mean", but I just couldn't resist! Once I had it worked out, I was super in love with the idea, so it stuck.  It spawned this in my outline:

"Before they even leave Esthar, Rinoa suddenly loses control of the second set of Sorceress' powers.  Adel's consciousness overpowers her and Rinoa is essentially possessed by Adel.  She starts destroying Esthar.  Esthar police come and lock Rinoa up in the containment facility."

So, yup, that happened.

Outside of that, I decided to give the chapter with Denzel's birth as a marker for where we are in the timeline, more than anything else.

by ~G-a-t-i-n-h-a on dA

Same thing goes for Lea and Isa.  Though, they have a little bit more plot involved.  This marks when they're found by the organization, specifically Xigbar.  I also tried to show Lea's apprehension about the whole thing.  Lea and Isa's friendship is still intact though, at this point.  For now, at least.

Anyway, let's do review responses.

archsage from chapter 25: Yes.  Oh dear is right.

From chapter 26: I'm glad you're finding things to be getting more and more interesting.  To answer your question about locations of other people: Marlene isn't born yet, Vincent and the others are around.  (I know, so specific, huh?) Other than that, no, I haven't read that particular fic, maybe I will when I get a chance.

KKBeckett: Yes, Leon would really like it if Laguna stopped helping.  Not that that's going to happen anytime soon.  And, yeah, Axel's a little over it all.

Anyway, this video is just for fun and giggles.  There was a post on tumblr that highlighted the piece of music (one that my cello teacher had hanging on her wall for laughs).  My friend (who doesn't play music) was talking about how that should be possible.  But... it's not.  It's just... not.  Not for one person playing everything.

The Final Fight Against Genesis (25)

Link to the chapter: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9446325/25/What-s-all-Gone-on-Before

Link to tumbl: http://magiksbrain.tumblr.com/tagged/ch25/chrono

If you look at the timestamps on those, it's because one is a liveblog, and the other is more thoughts that I added later.  Heh.

So, anyway, I could give you a beautiful epic picture of Zack fighting Genesis.  However, I'm going to give you this photo instead:

Photo put up by ~Rinoafox on dA.  Because while, yes, it has absolutely nothing to do with the chapter, it's absolutely hilarious.  Because, seriously.  Hojo.  Go die.

Anyway, moving on.

I outlined absolutely nothing for this chapter.  I just knew there would be a final confrontation with Genesis.  At the time when I was writing this, I had yet to actually beat Crisis Core, so I went and watched the final battle on YouTube because it wasn't like I was spoiling myself, I knew what happened anyway after watching rar play it.  (Why did I just try to type "R" and leave it at that? Rar is not a dead Replica...) Okay then.  Moving on.

Of course, as soon as I'm done writing this chapter, I go up against Genesis anyway (not the final battle, but the one you have in between the battle in Modeoheim and Banora.  Anyone remember what I'm talking about? I forget.  It happened in a cave of sorts.  Oi.)

Anyway, the syringe with the boosted degradation, not entirely sure where that came from.  It just happened.  So... yeah.

But no, the parallels between Axel/Saix and Angeal/Genesis were NOT OKAY ON SO MANY LEVELS.  MY GOSH.  UGH.  CAN YOU...? CAN YOU NOT?!?

If you want to know specifically the Axel/Saix feels I'm having, go read the last few chapters of All the Pieces.  Actually, I'm referring specifically to chapters 88 and 89.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6772185/88/All-the-Pieces-Lie-Where-they-Fell
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6772185/89/All-the-Pieces-Lie-Where-they-Fell

Yeah.... those chapters.  Ugh.  Feels.  Not okay guys, seriously.

I'm trying to remember what Zack was having a problem with... I think it had something to do with not striking Genesis when he's down, or perhaps just killing Genesis in general.  Zack was trying to be honorable and it was like, no, Zack... you need to kill him.  You can't save him.  THINK OF AERITH.

Anyway, that's pretty much all I have to say about that for now.

Review Responses: (I may just have a lot here)

KKBeckett: Oh, don't mind Genesis, he's only trying to bring about Angeal's demise.  But yeah, Angeal's okay for the moment.  Zack... well... we'll get to that.

MoonlightStar: (chapters 1-16):
I shall respond to the questions that don't get answered later so I don't spoil you.
So, yes, Yuffie's a lot younger than Leon.  I won't be shipping the two.  I tend not to ship across game.  Just as a personal thing.
Rinoa will eventually meet Zack.  They don't tend to speak a whole ton, now that I think about that.  Huh.  Food for my own thoughts.
Anyway, you okay? You appear to be having a lot of feels.

And that's that for now.  Have a video! (Because I can't think of anything else right now, have one of my current obsessions:)